1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to connectors for elongate cables and, more particularly, to a connector assembly through which a connector on the connector assembly is placed in electrical contact with a radially inwardly facing conductive surface on the cable.
2. Background Art
Larger sizes of coaxial cable are commonly made with hollow center conductors. The center conductors may be formed as thin walled tubes and commonly have annular corrugations thereon to facilitate bending. By reason of including the corrugations, it may be difficult to establish a reliable electrical contact with the radially inwardly facing conductive surface on the center conductor. Positive maintenance of this electrical contact is critical to establishing a high integrity connection between a connector, such as a pin connector, and the center conductor. This has prompted the development of a number of alternative designs for connector assemblies, amongst which is that which uses a dart-tipped, or barbed, probe that is forcibly directed into the center conductor at the cable end. To be effective, this type of connection generally requires deformation of the center conductor and the maintenance of a constant holding force. This holding force may, due to environmental variations, such as temperature changes, and other changed conditions, relax over the anticipated useful life of the connector assembly.
In another form, the connector assembly has a flexible, slotted tube that is inserted within the center conductor. The slots separate the tube to define discrete fingers that are urged against the radially inwardly facing conductive surface. By using a thicker wall on these tubes, positive holding forces can be developed between the tube fingers and center conductor, at the cost of limiting compliance of the tubes/fingers to the radially inwardly facing, conductive, center conductor surface. This is particularly true where the radially inwardly facing, conductive, center conductor surface is corrugated.
The latter problem can be eliminated to a certain extent by making the tube/fingers more flexible and compliant to irregular surfaces. However, by doing so, the holding forces, resulting from the residual forces in the “loaded” fingers, may be relatively weak, and prone to diminishing further over time.
The industry continues to seek out connecting structures at these sites that establish good contact to maximize electrical transmission properties, while at the same time maintaining a secure and positive connection over the anticipated useful life of the product.